Regent University School of Law Celebrates 25 Years of Law Review

Regent University School of Law (LAW) holds fast to its traditions
and values stemming from the biblical mandate in Isaiah 1:17: seeking
justice and encouraging the oppressed.

Justice Daniel Kelly.

This October, however, LAW paid tribute to another tradition: the Regent University Law Review.
In partnership with the Regent Law Federalist Society, on October 1 LAW
hosted the 2016 Regent University Law Review Symposium, titled “First
Amendment post-Obergefell: the Clash of Enumerated & Unenumerated
Rights.”

The symposium's first panel was on education and the effect of the Supreme Court's Obergefell v. Hodges opinion on religious universities and law schools.

Participation in the panel included LAW dean, Michael Hernandez;
Canadian Counsel of Christian Charities’ Barry Bussey; professor at
Duquesne Law, Bruce Ledewitz; and professor at St. Mary’s Law, Bill
Piatt.

A second panel focused on Obergefell’s effect on the First
Amendment rights of religious objectors in for-profit companies,
non-profit entities and churches. Speakers on this topic included Family
Research Council’s Travis Weber; First Liberty Institute’s Chelsey
Youman; and Alliance Defending Freedom’s Caleb Dalton.

This year marks the Law Review’s celebration of its 25th anniversary. Its first issue was published in 1991, and since then, the Law Review has completed 28 volumes encompassing 390 articles.

Attending the celebration was Regent LAW alumnus, Daniel Kelly '91, who
was appointed justice for the Supreme Court Justice for the State of
Wisconsin in summer 2016. Kelly was the Regent University Law Review’s first-ever editor-in-chief.

“When I first accepted this invitation, I thought, ‘25 years is quite a long time for the Law Review
to have been in existence,” said Kelly. “This thought was immediately
interrupted with a second, which was the fact that as much as this birth
coincided with my graduation from my beloved alma mater, 25 years isn’t
really long at all.”

Whether he perceives the passing of those 25 years since he was last on
campus as long or short, Kelly was quick to admit that he hardly
recognized the school once he returned.
“I have the fondest memories of this place and my time here,” said
Kelly. “And I don’t mean to sound like a stereotypical uncle upon seeing
his nieces and nephews after an extended period of absence, but my, how
you’ve grown!”

And though the buildings have changed, and the student body is at its
largest-ever, Kelly explained that the important things, such as the
purpose, spirit and fellowship that made Regent unique was still
apparent to this day.

He thanked those in the Regent Law Review’s past – including associate vice president for Academic Affairs, Doug Cook – who championed the importance of the Law Review in its early days. Kelly also charged the current and future leaders of the Law Review to continue the “noble cause” with excellence.

“May the Regent University Law Review always be blessed with
editors who care about it as much as the ones it has today,” said Kelly.
“May its contribution and the influence it’s had over the last 25 years
grow as quickly and surely as it has grown it its first. And now, may
God bless you, this university and the work of your hands.”